FLOTSAM AND JETSAM
Flotsam and jetsam are commonly used terms. They are used to describe the wreckage and debris that floats in the water after a shipwreck. What isn't so well known is that there is a difference between flotsam and jetsam.
Flotsam is anything that ends up in the water resulting from the shipwreck, whether it's pieces of the boat or even some of the cargo. Nobody had any control over it; it's there as a result of the shipwreck.
But jetsam is different altogether. Jetsam refers to the cargo and other items that have been purposely jettisoned from the ship to help stabilise it and hopefully to save it from shipwreck. In other words, ejecting the jetsam can often save the possibility of a complete wreck and the resulting flotsam.
Life is similar. We often have to make choices to eject things from our lives that we may prefer to hold onto in order to prevent a much worse disaster.